Rockabye
by madi writes stuff
Summary: He was always there for me. My shoulder to cry on, the one who listened to my endless rambling, the one who stood up for me. We thought we knew where we stood, but now, we aren't so sure.
1. Chapter 1

_The picture was old and worn. As I lifted it out of the box with gentle hands, I was terrified that it would suddenly dissolve into dust. The box had been in my family for generations, nobody quite knowing it's true age. It was mahogany, simple and dark. Just like our history, I thought. The lid had roses carved into it, their stems intertwining and the once red paint was faded into pinks. I studied the picture more intently. There were three people, sometimes blinded by the numerous flashes occuring in the background and none of them looked happy. To the far left was a man. He was old, no simpler way to put it. His beard was long, just like the robes he wore. Even if I didn't know who this man was, I would have known that he would be dead by now. In the middle was a teenager, 15, her grandmum had told her. His dark hair was cut short, revealing a scar in the exact shape of a lightning bolt. He was covered in blood in some places. His face was set in a grim line. The last person was the one she was looking at the article in the first place for. Dark hair hid most of the person's face, wavy and shoulder length. Behind the angled bangs lay grey eyes, even though it was black and white, I knew what color they were. She (for, that is what the person is, a female) wore a dark t-shirt, black, she presumed and jeans. She seemed to have been crying at one point, but was no longer. The middle boy had his arm around her shoulder. From what her family had told her, this had been such a sad day, and all three of them were being exceptionally strong for not bawling their eyes out at the moment. Suddenly the girl's looked up and glanced at the boy. He nodded and she returned the nod and ran off. I almost laughed at the irony. Her grandmum had told her that earlier that day she had made the decision to stop running away from her problems. Well, the boy in the picture sure caused her some major ones, that's for sure._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N I haven't updated in so long... forgive me. ): Ok, so this is chapter 2! I've had this idea in my head for a while now, and I know that some of this stuff has been done before, but I'm going to to do it my way.

Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter, J.K Rowling does.

My childhood was average. Nothing special, no horrible abuse, just normal. I lived with my uncle Remus. Just the two of us and my cat, Maple. Until I was six we lived in a small sea side town in Greece, where I would spend the days in the water, being absolutely care free. After we moved out of our small cottage there, we went to Ireland. The Irish countryside was my absolute favorite place in the world. We lived in a small farm house and had a pasture full of sheep. One word I was used to was small, along with cheap and simple. Remus didn't have much money, but he always tried his best to take care of me. One night, he seemed like he was in a hurry and, being the nosy eight year old I was, I questioned him and bugged him, but he kept trying to but me in bed, to which I refused.

"Now, Lair, you have to go to bed."

I frowned, "No!"

He sighed, "Please, for me?"

I scrunched my nose, "Fine." And with that, I pulled the covers over my head and proceeded to pretend like I was crying, but not too hard, just enough to make Remus feel bad. I was disappointed when I heard him turn the light off and exit the room. I peeked my head out when I heard the front door open. Out of the window I saw something I never expected to. My uncle transforming into a werewolf. I gasped and ran out onto the porch and cried out to him, telling him to stop. He looked at me and growled for me to go inside. I obeyed quickly, scared beyond my wits. The next day that he was feeling better he told me that when he was little he was bitten, and how at Hogwarts he had a special shack to go to on nights of the full moon. Now that I knew his "furry little secret", as I prefer to call it, we moved to St. Ottery Catchpole, about 10 miles from the Weasleys.

I divide my childhood into two parts, before I met the Weasleys and after. They were my family and I love them dearly. They have a son, Ron, who's my age and one daughter who's a year younger. But the sibling that I bonded with the most was Charlie. I wouldn't say that he was my favorite, but I looked up to him in a way that I did to none of the others. He taught me all about magical creatures, how he wanted to work with dragons, and Hogwarts. I couldn't wait to go there!

_Alaira- Age 11_

The date was September 1st. Today, I was starting Hogwarts. I was still in my room, well, Ginny's, seeing as I was staying at their house. Last night was the full moon. Moony, as I sometimes call him, had said his goodbyes yesterday at lunch time and wished me luck. I pulled on some jeans and a plain blue t- shirt along with black sneakers. I glanced in the mirror. Brown, nearly black, shoulder length hair with layers, gray eyed, and a slim, but not too, figure. I bounded down the stairs, nearly knocking George over.

"Whoa there, Al, watch it! Nearly broke my neck!" I giggled. George and his twin Fred were going to be 3rd years, and Percy a 5th. I loved helping the twins pull pranks, especially on Percy

"Sorry, George! I'm just so excited." I apologized.

I entered the kitchen where Molly was finishing up breakfast and took my seat in between Ron and Ginny. Eventually all the Weasleys were seated around the table and the food was served. I dug into the delicious, as always, eggs along with sausage, toast, and orange juice, my favorite. Ron and I decided that we were going to get a compartment on the train together so we could stick together. We loaded the trunks into the magically expanded trunk of the ministry car we were using and hopped inside between Fred and Ron. Only Percy, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Molly, and I were going, seeing as Arthur had to work, Charlie was already studying in Romania, and Bill was doing who knows what in Egypt with those nasty gobllins. We arrived at the train station shortly after and stood in between platforms 9 and 10. I had been to 9 and ¾ before when the others had left for Hogwarts. We were ready to start going into the wall when we heard a voice.

"Excuse, could you tell me where I could find platform 9 and ¾?" I turned around and saw a boy with green eyes. That was his first feature that I noticed. Next I saw his black hair that stuck up in places and his baggy clothes. He was so skinny! I had been fed well at the Weasleys, and so were the others. Molly smiled at him, "First time, dear?" He nodded "It's Ron and Al's, too." I gave him a smile, "You can sit with us, if you would like." "Thanks." He answered.

Molly glanced at the clock and hurriedly ordered the Twins to cross into the platform through the brick wall and the rest of us followed suit. On the other side Ron and I stood in awe at the sight of the scarlet engine and the bustling magical families only to be interrupted by Molly's frantic kisses and nudges toward the train.

"Goodbye dears! Alaira, you watch after Ronald now! Be good!" We bid her goodbye and went to search for a compartment. After nearly 10 minutes, no empty compartment was found. But eventually they stumbled over one holding the skinny green-eyed boy from before.

"Excuse me, do you mind? Every where else is full." Ron asked, sticking his head inside the door.

"No, not at all."

Ron sat down across from the boy and I sat beside Ron.

"My name's Ron by the way, Ron Weasley. And this is my friend, Alaira."

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

Ron and I gasped. "Blimey! You can't be! I always thought of you as older. You know, a legend or something.."

Ron was still in shock as well. "S-so, it's true? You've really got the.. the.. scar?"

"Oh, yeah." and Harry lifted up this bangs to reveal a lightning shaped scar.

"Wicked." Ron and I spoke at the same time.

In a blink the trolley was outside the compartment. "Anything from the trolley, dears?" The plump lady asked. While Ron and I had the sandwiches Molly had made us, Harry surprised us by pulling out a bunch of money and getting a little of everything, and shared it with us.

This Harry Potter was nothing like the one I had always pictured in my head. This Harry Potter was a kid, just like us that needed sweets and pasties and chocolate, not necessarily a fabled hero.

While munching and filling ourselves with the delicious treats, we all got to know each other a bit better. For example, Harry and I were both orphans, his parents obviously being killed my He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and mine having died by dragons in Romania on a trip. We both lived with our uncles, but while mine was kind and provided for me in every way he could, Harry's was a nasty man who forced him to live in a cupboard under the stairs. We learned that he first showed magic on a trip to the zoo when he let a snake loose.

That made me laugh, "Oh, that's funny Harry! You know, I did my first bit of magic when I lived in Greece, and my uncle and I were in town, there was this big, old church by the sea and a big, old nun that was outside of it and a bunch of sea gulls were perched on the roof, so I made them attack her. Oh, and one time I exploded a nest of spiders on ickle Ronniekins!"

Harry burst out laughing while Ron grumbled that that's why he was still afraid of them to this day.

Finally, after several more sweets, a visit from a rather bushy-haired girl who seemed to know it all, Ron's failed attempt to turn his rat yellow, and a lost toad, we arrived at Hogwarts. And as we were sailing in the small boats toward the magnificent castle, it began to sink in that we were about to start our new lives at Hogwarts.


End file.
